AIM To develop analytical models and analyse the stress distribution and flexibility of nickel-titanium (NiTi) instruments subject to bending forces. METHODOLOGY The analytical method was used to analyse the behaviours of NiTi instruments under bending forces. Two NiTi instruments (RaCe and Mani NRT) with different cross-sections and geometries were considered. Analytical results were derived...

Some shape memory alloys like NiTi show noticeable high damping property inpseudoelastic range. Due to its unique characteristics, a NiTi alloy is commonly used forpassive damping applications, in which the energy may be dissipated by the conversion frommechanical to thermal energy. This study presents a shape memory alloy based micro-damper, which exploits the pseudoelasticity of NiTi wires fo...

Objective: The welding process involves metal ions capable of causing cell lysis. In view of this fact, the aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that cytotoxicity is present in different types of alloys (CrNi, TMA, NiTi) commonly used in orthodontic practice when these alloys are subjected to electric spot welding. Methods: Three types of alloys were evaluated in this study. Thirty-six ...

NiTi foams are unique among biocompatible porous metals because of their high recovery strain (due to the shape-memory or superelastic effects) and their low stiffness facilitating integration with bone structures. To optimize NiTi foams for bone implant applications, two key areas are under active study: synthesis of foams with optimal architectures, microstructure and mechanical properties; a...

One of the main issues with the use of nickel titanium alloy (NiTi) implants in cardiovascular implants (stents) is that these devices must be of very high quality in order to avoid subsequent operations due to failing stents. For small stents with diameters below ca. 2 mm, however, stent characterization is not straightforward. One of the main problems is that there are virtually no methods to...

BACKGROUND This study aimed to compare superelastic and heat-activated nickel-titanium orthodontic wires' surface morphology and potential release of nickel ions following exposure to oral environment conditions. METHODS Twenty-four 20-mm-length distal cuts of superelastic (NiTi Force I®) and 24 20-mm-length distal cuts of heat-activated (Therma-Ti Lite®) nickel-titanium wires (American Ortho...

OBJECTIVES The purpose was to investigate the preference and usage technique of NiTi rotary instruments and to retrieve data on the frequency of re-use and the estimated incidence of file separation in the clinical practice among general dentists. MATERIALS AND METHODS A survey was disseminated via e-mail and on-site to 673 general dentists. The correlation between the operator's experience o...

In the clinical practice, it is much more efficient to use NiTi rotary files compared to hand instrumentation. However, misuse of NiTi rotary files can result in procedural errors such as transportation, ledge, perforation, and file separation. Generally, following suggestions could be considered to avoid these errors. 1. Enlarge the coronal half of the root canal before preparing the apical pa...

While shape memory alloys such as NiTi have strong potential as active materials in many small-scale applications, much is still unknown about their shape memory and deformation behavior as size scale is reduced. This paper reports on two sets of experiments which shed light onto an inconsistent body of research regarding the behavior of NiTi at the nanoto microscale. In situ SEM pillar bending...

OBJECTIVES The purpose of this in vitro study was to evaluate the accuracy of working length (WL) determination of four electronic apex locators (EALs), namely, Root ZX (RZX), Elements diagnostic unit and apex locator (ELE), SybronEndo Mini Apex locator (MINI) and Propex pixi (PIXI) using Stainless steel (SS) and nickel-titanium (NiTi) hand files. The null hypothesis was that there was no diffe...